I hope you have, or had, a wonderful Easter! Here are some of the beautiful Easter birds, with their chocolate eggs, who temporarily inhabited the windows of the chocolate shop in Fuengirola, where we have been during Holy Week.
Fuengirola is a small town on the Costa del Sol, Spain, and we were there with one of our daughters, her family and her in-laws. T and I flew into Malaga and so took the chance to spend three days there. I like the city very much.
Holy Week, (Santa Semana,) is very important in Andalucia, and we are all still a bit dazed by the huge and amazing processions of Jesus and Mary on their ornate silver and gold floats, lit by dozens of huge candles and carried mostly by men, some of them blindfolded, others in long robes, preceded by robed penitents in long pointed hats and always accompanied by a band.
The masks and robes of the penitents can seem quite frightening, partly because the evil founders of the Ku Klux Klan have perverted them by adopting very similar robes. The confraternities which run the processions are of course devoted to helping the sick, living holy lives, etc.
It's hard to convey just how extraordinary it is to have these processions going for hours through the workaday streets of the town. Every afternoon evening and night in Holy Week is given up to it - it's very much a living religious tradition with all ages and both sexes participating.
The atmosphere of the processions is exciting, positive and family centred.
Many children and young people collect the wax from the penitents' long candles, and at the end of the day the penitents' robes are often bespattered with wax.
The vast majority of people at the processions that we saw were local, and it was very much a social as well as a religious occasion. I suspect it is a custom that has its roots in very long tradition.
However narrow and maze-like the streets, the floats will get there, and the carrying of it is a highly skilled affair. This float arrived outside the tapas bar where we were having a snack at about 11 PM.
Nothing is mechanised, the floats are carried by human effort for hours and hours, often until the early hours of the morning
. It is clearly very tiring, and some of the bearers also do the work blindfold. Here are some of the bearers taking a rest in Malaga.
They were carrying a most spectacular float of the Virgin, and some of the candles were being renewed and relit by a very strong fellow carrying a long taper. Can you see him on the left?
I haven't downloaded all the photos yet, and there is so much more to say, I suppose - but I will post this now, as I wanted to wish you a Happy Easter before the holiday ends.
It is quite amazing that these religious festivals continue in the 21st Century and I wonder if they are still rooted in belief or have they become part of tradition? Unlike Christmas, religious fervour seems to be a great part of them. Here in Canada regular church attendance has slipped to 16% of the populace and churches are closing all over as congregations die off with no young people to replace them. Perhaps in Spain, a predominantly Catholic country it is different. In any event, continue to enjoy your time there.
ReplyDeleteThanks, David. I don't know really how religious people are in Spain but it is clear that in Andalucia these ceremonies act as a way of binding people together, participation is whole hearted and across all levels of society, it seems.
DeleteHappy Easter! It looks like some amazing processions take place there.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a wonderful and joyful Easter!
DeleteWonderful Photos and it looks like you had a fabulous time.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter
cheers, parsnip
Happy Easter to you, Parsnip!
DeleteHappy Easter to you too, Jenny. What beautiful Easter birds you found in the Spanish window. I would love to visit Spain, and it was so interesting to read about Malaga. I think I have seen pictures of the penitents with the long pointed hats, and the processions sound incredible. Australia is such a secular country by comparison, it being difficult to even imagine such activities out in the streets in this day and age. Of course, people did go to church for Easter, and some of us even went to sing! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter to you, too, Patricia! I really regret the way that singing in church seems to be on the decline, not just in church but in public places. It can be such a lot of fun singing so glad you got the chance to do it. I suppose religions in hot countries are so much more colourful than in places like Britain, because parading round the streets in cold wet countries is no fun. But perhaps that does not apply in Australia since so many early settlers were Brits who presumably brought their customs and celebrations with them.
DeleteWonderful photos and videos. Those Easter celebrations are spectacular. I really love the parrots with the chocolate eggs!
ReplyDeleteThe robes of the penitents genuinely startled me. It does look like a KKK rally.
Usually the robes are different colours, often brightly coloured satins. These were the first white ones I saw, but hey that's what came marching down the street with that wonderful float. I should have posted some pictures of the penitent cakes which are sold in the shops, generally chocolate coloured robes for obvious reasons :)
DeleteHappy Easter and thanks for sharing. Rather different from our "secularized protestant" traditions here... ;)
ReplyDeleteIt involves one's personal emotions. That's both appealing and alarming.
DeleteHappy Easter to you, too.
ReplyDeleteI regret never having seen such celebrations, so I enjoyed reading your post and seeing the photographs. Thanks, Jenny.
ReplyDeleteA pleasure, Valerie!
DeleteHello Jenny, The organizers of Santa Semana must know about the negative connotations of their costumes, even if their costumes came earlier. Sometimes a symbol is usurped by another group and gains new meanings, and perhaps then it is time for the original promoters to develop some new symbolism. Anyway, the wearers are supposed to be penitents, not frighteners of little children. I have a similar situation collecting Asian objects in that swastikas were used by Buddhists (also by Native Americans) in a positive way, but they are still swastikas (it makes no difference which way the arms point!) and I will not have them around the house, not matter how old the object that bears it might be, or how positive its original symbolism.
ReplyDeleteHere we have large Buddhist/Taoist parades which have a similar effect--large, heavy, elaborate floats with religious images and statues are hand-carried through the streets, fanciful and colorful costumes, and musical accompaniment that is so loud you can hear the parades when they are still blocks away!
--Jim
I really do see where you're coming from about this. I guess my feeling is that if a small evil group of people want to appropriate something that has a strong and very different meaning for millions, then the millions should not pander to the evil ones. That is just because I don't like the idea of any lowlife grabbing what matters to others and perverting it. I'd feel different if the aim of the Santa Semana outfits had been to frighten the young, but there was no sign of any child being frightened - in fact, most remarkably, I didn't see a single child playing up or crying at all the whole week, (or any sign of adult bad behaviour, not even shouting) and that might have been due to the kindly, gentle and supportive nature of the crowds. Mind you, I might be quite wrong about the meaning of it all...there is clearly an awful lot of symbolic stuff there.
DeleteI've seen similar processions on Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown." I think I could take about fifteen minutes of it before it all came together to cause me to have a panic attack. It's all very eerie to me from the robes and hats to the massive amounts of energy and resources used in the process to the statues of the saints themselves. One almost might call it idolatry.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, love the birds and eggs in the windows.
It would be most uncomfortable for anyone who is uneasy in crowds. There is something eerie about it, specially in the dark, but to me it seems to be part of the message of Easter, that bad and frightening things do happen and we do feel them, but we stick together and support each other, do our best to live a good life and look forward to deliverance from it at Easter. The role of the Virgin Mary is very interesting in Southern European countries, she is a focus of a great deal of feeling.
DeleteThe processions take place here in Costa Rica...but very downkey compared with those in Spain. We did see Holy Week in Honduras a few years ago though which was much as you describe seeing...very much a local and family affair, even if the town loudspeaker playing 'the girl from Ipanema' did not seem the most appropriate choice as the floats passed...
ReplyDeleteIf it hadn't been associated with Frank Sinatra I'd have been entirely tolerant ... but I just can't be tolerant about the man. :)
DeleteI am not sure what I think of this. It is quite a spectacle, but ...
ReplyDeleteYes, knowing what you will think of something is hard and even if you are experiencing it, it is so subjective. I would guess there are many folk who prefer to stay indoors till all the crowds are gone and everything is back to normal.
DeleteThree day in Andalusia - what a holiday, Jenny. I've before read on Easter in Spain and your videos show well the traditions there. I liked your photos of Easter birds!
ReplyDeleteThat's an amazing week-long celebration. Do people take time off work to participate or is there a week-long national holiday?
ReplyDeleteWow, big wow, and wow again. Loved this -- both the photos and videos. I've never seen anything like that before -- magnificent. But you are right about the robes of the penitents. That would give many an American a big fright.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should try and see one of these parades in Spain. We saw similar processions in Toledo a few years ago, and I found them fascinated to see. There were different for parades every night for about a week. Everything about them was so alien to the way that I was brought up. My impression is that they can be quite frightening to observe for the first time, but I have the distinct impression that catholicism is still very firmly rooted in their culture and lifestyle
ReplyDeleteThe white robes gave me a jolt at first, for sure, but it is interesting to see other people's traditions. I'd be scared to carry that float or whatever they call it with all the glass and candles--wow! You can feel the community is involved. Thanks for the videos. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely vacation you had. Spain has so many beautiful and interesting things to see and do.
ReplyDeleteIt looks all rather overwhelming, and like some others have commented here, I do feel a little uneasy at the sight of those pointed hats, even though I know they are not meant to frighten but are worn here as symbols of penitence.
ReplyDeleteThat is the thing about religion; the line between comforting and scaring can be rather thin.
PS: I forgot to say I really love the birds in the shop window!
ReplyDeletebeautiful series of photos …...and nice video
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter to you and yours
Glad you enjoyed a break!
ReplyDeleteThese processions remind me of ancient Sumer. There the towns would take their goddess and parade her around, sometimes visiting other goddesses! Ur, Nippur, Uruk etc all did this 5000 years ago. I wonder if this goes back to such parades?
Love the parrots!
I wonder too
DeleteFascinating photos, it's hard to understand what these outfits have to do with Christianity really. It seems more like traditions than Jesus dying on a cross and coming back to life 3 days later.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to me as a Muslim. Long pointed hats are really different...
ReplyDeleteA colourful interesting array of photos of an interesting, colourful event.
ReplyDeleteWhen my late brother and I were little kids...it was always the Easter Bird, never the Easter Bunny...times have changed...in so many ways.
Wow, that looks quite amazing, Jenny. I heard many places in the south there had torrential rain over Easter, but it seems it didn't get you. The costumes and festivities in Spain are fantastic. When I was there last year, it seemed that every town had a fiesta and there was something to go to every week, most of them having a religious connotation.
ReplyDeleteOh it was great to see your comment, I seem to miss when you post, and your blog is always so enjoyable, the stories events and your photos. These Easter photos are something special the birds are quite unique too. The KKK well yes a bit on the scary side! Enjoy your weekend, and again thank you for your visits to my blog too!
ReplyDelete